Accidentally Rediscovered Be careful what you tweet. Credit: Netflix

In the final episode of NetflixsBlack Mirror, the government claims to be using Autonomous Drone Insects to counteract the collapse of the bee population. Spoiler alert: theyre lying.

Its soon discovered that these bee drones are actually being used for mass public surveillance. Worse, the drones areprogrammedto kill. The deaths are linked to awebsite promoting a Game of Consequence where Twitter users can vote to kill one hated public figure using the hashtag#DeathTo.

Now, similar drones are coming to Japan, without all the government secrets and Twitter deaths (we assume). Japans insect-sized drones were turned into artificial pollinators with the help of a coating of horse hair and an ionic sticky gel. The drones work like bees and use their hairs to pick up pollen from one flower and deposit it into another.

Researchers from Japan actually discovered this ionic gel accidentally, and then published their work in the journal Chem. Back in 2007, one of the researchers, chemist Eijiro Miyako, was working on possible liquid electrical conductors. One attempt to do so produced a wax-like sticky gel. The gel was shelved after Miyako considered it a failure. It was rediscovered after a decade during a lab cleanup and, to Miyakos surprise, the gel remained unchanged.

This project is the result of serendipity, Miyako said. We were surprised that after 8 years, the ionic gel didnt degrade and was still so viscous. Conventional gels are mainly made of water and cant be used for a long time, so we decided to use this material for research.

Miyako tested the pollen-grasping abilities of the gel by coating ants with it, which he then left to roam free in a box of tulips. Researchers observed that ants coated with the gel were able to collect more pollen than those that werent. In addition, a separate test applying the gel to houseflies revealed that it changes color when exposed to different sources of light potentially giving it a camouflage effect that can help artificial pollinators avoid predators.

With the gel tested and proven to be sticky enough, the next thing to do was to look for the artificial pollinator. Miyako found a $100-four propeller droneand gave it a fuzzy, bee-like exterior. It was the teams AIST colleagues Masayoshi Tange and Yue Yu who decided to use horse hair on the drones surface. These bristles gave more surface area for pollen to attach to, and at the same time, provided electric charge that kept the pollens in place.

The drones were tested on Japanese lilies, with the team flying them by remote control. The drones would pick up pollen from one flower, and then flewto another flower todeposit the pollen.

The findings, which will have applications for agriculture and robotics, among others, could lead to the development of artificial pollinators and help counter the problems caused by declining honeybee populations, Miyako said. We believe that robotic pollinators could be trained to learn pollination paths using global positioning systems and artificial intelligence.

As bees enter the endangered species list in the United States, these natural pollinators will need all the help they can get. Artificial pollinators can lessen the burden of modern agricultural demand, giving the bees breathing space to recover their numbers. Hopefully, these drones wont turn out to the way their Black Mirror counterparts did, but we can worry about that later. For now, getting these drones out there to see just how much they could help will keep the world pollinated.

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Japan Has Created Black Mirror-Inspired Bee Drones - Futurism

In Brief

Usually, any news fromElon Musk regarding Tesla is good news. However, some may be disappointed by the CEOs latest round of tweeting. In response to a question on battery capacity, Musk hinted that the currently unannounced capacity of the companys next model, the Model 3, will not exceed 100 kWh.

This particular wording led some to wonderif the top battery pack option would be 100 kWh. Unfortunately, Musk was quick to dash those hopes as well, tweeting that the size of the new model is a limiting factor.

No specifics have been released on just how far below 100 kWh the capacity of the highest end Model 3 will be. Last year, a Tesla executive did mention that the base option would have a capacity of under 60 kWh, and Musk has said that the base model would have a range of at least 346 kilometers (215 miles). The higher-end versions are expected to achieve a range of more than 482 kilometers (300 miles). Given that the Model 3 is smaller and lighter than other Tesla models, it will likely be able to achievethose ranges even with smaller capacity batteries.

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Elon Musk: The Model 3 Battery Will Be Below 100 kWh - Futurism

It is particularly appropriate to re-examine the relationship between the rise of Fascism and the literary and artistic movement called Futurism, because in the last decade Futurism has once again been in the news. In 1986 the Italian car manufacturing giant FIAT together with an American high-tech conglomerate sponsored the largest and most comprehensive exhibition on Futurism ever mounted.

The renovated Palazzo Grassi in Venice groaned under the weight of 300 paintings and 1,200 other works, including a magnificent Bugatti automobile, all purportedly related to Futurism and its 'influence'.

So massive was this exhibition that the catalogue was said to weigh as much as a bomb. Henry Kissinger, the Aga Khan, Mme. Pompidou and other assorted luminaries came to see the show, as well as to lunch on such Futurist recipes as orange rice and lobster with green zabaglione sauce. Avoided were the more radical dishes to be found in Filippo Marinetti's 1931 Futurist cookbook, such as salami immersed in a bath hot black coffee flavoured with eau-de-Cologne or, for dessert, fresh pineapple with sardines.

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Futurism and Fascism | History Today

In Brief

Tesla has just beaten another record. This time, the companys new Model S P100D has shattered the Motor Trend all-time world record for acceleration with its ability to go from 0 to 97 km/h(0 to 60 mph) in 2.28 seconds. A tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk cites the time at 2.27 seconds after rounding down from 2.275507139 seconds.

This will certainly be welcome news for those who enjoy the power of traditional muscle cars but also valuethe various environmental advantagesof electric vehicles. The speed comes as a benefit of a user-activated upgrade called Ludicrous mode, which greatly increases the vehicles performance, but not without extra wear and tear on the motor, gearbox, and battery.

Tesla is showing through its various innovations that it is, in many ways, the future. From theirself-driving cars to Powerpack stations that ease dependence on fossil fuels, the companys strength is clearly its eye toward the future. However, its nice to see them flex some musclewith regards to the standards of the past as well.

This announcement comes on the heels of another, less record-breaking announcement that the company ischanging its name from Tesla Motors Inc. to simply Tesla Inc.

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Tesla Just Shattered a World Record - Futurism

In Brief

Right now, birth control options for men are limited to physical prophylactics (condoms) or surgery (a vasectomy), and there hasnt been a major update in male contraception in more than 100 years. Last year, trials for a hormonal optionbegan, but they had to be stopped early due to some unforeseen adverse side effects. Now, a new option is making its way through the required steps toward approval for widespread use, and it is reported to be completely reversible and much less invasive than a vasectomy.

Vasalgel is a one-time injection that has been shown to control sperm counts in monkeys. In fact, several of the treated monkeys were unable to get female monkeys pregnant for up to two years after the injection. The injection places a polymer gel in the tube through which sperm travels, the vas deferens, blocking sperm from joining the other bodily fluids that make up a mans ejaculate. No adverse reactions were reported in either the testing done on rabbits or the monkeys.

The cost and potential complications of male or female surgicalmethods of birth control limit their availability worldwide. Condoms can be expensive given that they are only designed for a single use. Thats not even considering their relatively high rate of failure, from 15 to 20 percent.The not-for-profit company behind Vasalgel plans on marketing the product with an international pricing structure to maximize the potential of universal affordability for all men. This means it could play a huge part in the lives of people all around the globe.

Giving people more choices when it comes to birth control actually benefits us all. According to an article in The Atlantic, couples who experience unintended pregnancy and unplanned childbirth are more likely to have depression and anxiety while adults who plan their children tend to be happier. These findings come from a group of studies compiled by the Guttmacher Institute. And the benefits dont stop at better mental health.

There are also clear economic benefits to greater control over reproduction. According toMartha Bailey, a University of Michigan professor of economics, Cheaper and more reliable contraception allows parents to delay childbearing, to invest in their own human capital, and have children when their incomes are higher. This kind of choice also allows for healthier individuals and families as poverty can be tied to higher rates of illness.

The product still has a few more regulatoryhoops to jump through even before it can be submitted for approval to bodies such as the FDA. Still, any news regarding male-centered methods of birth control are worth noting, especially when they seem as promising as this one. The Parsemus Foundations original estimates of availability by 2018 may have been a lofty goal, but Vasagel is well on its way.

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A New Method of Reversible Male Birth Control Passed a Major Test - Futurism

Uber Elevate

Ubers ride sharing concept didnt just revolutionize the transportation industry it carved a totally new business model. Its no surprise then, that the company is consistently investing in technology that will once again prove to be game changing.

Last October, Uber announcedplans to develop vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft to provide a cost-effective and efficient ride sharing service that can shuttle passengers around cities. Now, former NASA engineer Mark Moore will be joining the team to bring these flying, on-demand vehicles into reality.

Moore, who originally lent his engineering expertise for Ubers white paper on the VTOL craft, will now serve as the companys Director of Engineering for their new concept, dubbed Uber Elevate.

I cant think of another company in a stronger position to be the leader for this new ecosystem and make the urban electric VTOL market real, the 30-year NASA veteran shared with Bloomberg.

While Moore is intent on taking Ubers vision to new heights (literally), hes pragmatic enough to recognize the technological and logistical challenges of this project.

On the technical side, the company has to contend with improving vehicle efficiency and limited battery life, while making sure to address potential issues, like noise pollution. On the logistical front, the company has to lobby regulators to reduce air-traffic restrictions, and certify aircrafts for use. But, given Ubers 55-million-strong market, its in a prime position to demonstrate the potential of this technology, and maybe even pave the way for other innovators who are working to bring vehicles to the skies.

AeroMobil has been working on a prototype that combines the characteristics of a traditional car with a small airplane. Airbus Project Vahana is working on a similar, helicopter-style autonomous vehicle that can ferry passengers in the air. And Jetpack Aviation, a company primarily focused on developing jetpacks, is dipping their toes in the flying car industry.

Uber, along with all these companies, will inevitably create a new frontier in transportation defined by convenience, sustainability, and innovation.

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Uber Taps NASA Expert to Make Flying Cars a Reality - Futurism

AI is mainstream and its applications are limitless; here is the AI forecast for 2017 from some of the experts in the industry.

From long, illustrious careers to bright lights snuffed out too soon, we pay homage to noted scientists who passed away in 2016 and their visionary work.

To explore space we must develop better tools to handle delays in communication arising from huge distances: this is communication's next frontier.

We round up some of the most stunning futuristic skyscraper concepts being envisioned today that could change the urban skyline of tomorrow.

Universal basic income (UBI) pilot programs are in the works; here's a look at where these UBI pilot programs are, what they're like, and which are coming.

A military-led science program in China has constructed the worlds most sensitive radio telescope: the FAST radio telescope.

The world is filled with massively complex systems and chaos, but predictive AI can enable us to see through the noise and prepare for the future.

This roundup showcases amazing, cheap tech fixes and gadgets, many that are DIY, that have the potential to transform life in developing countries.

From launches to moon landings to the "grand finale" of a hard-working spacecraft, here are the most anticipated space science missions of 2017.

Get to know the life and works of one of the most famous modern futurists who coined the terms "future shock" and "information overload": Alvin Toffler.

We remember the contributions to science made by a visionary astronomer who helped confirm the existence of dark matter: Dr. Vera Rubin, feminist futurist.

As of November 2014, out of 536 total space travelers, only 59 were women. Get to know some of these notable women in space.

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Infographics - futurism.com

The Bore-ing Company

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been moving quickly on the development of what he calls The Boring Company.In January of last year, he presenteda proposal at the Hyperloop Pod Competition for a company that would lighten traffic through the use of underground tunnels. One year later, Musk mentioned that construction of a tunnel could begin in Los Angeles by the end of February.

Musk hasnt fallen short of his promise his new boring machine began to dig a tunnel as part of a demonstration at SpaceXs Hyperloop Pod Competition last weekend. Although the machine has only created a mere hole, his team plans to eventually construct a full-fledged tunnel.

Musk hasntbeen too clear about how the tunnel will function, but the Hyperloop could be involved after, it is supposed to be able to work above or below ground. Musk has, at the very least, not denied the connection:

For those that are curious enough to see what Musks boring machine looks like, he released a photo of it on Twitter recently. This might be only one part of a massive machine without the cutting head attached.

Although tunneling machines already exist, Musks company would be unique because the machines would make tunneling faster, speeding up the digging process almost tenfold compared to conventional methods. If Musks boring machine can make tunneling quicker and easier, underground transit could also become more popular. Tunnels would be a solution to heavy traffic, especially in urban areas, as well as a potential way to bring transportation into buildings.

Musk isnt exactly serious about creating a separate entity called The Boring Company. Thankfully, the project fits into Teslas mission to alleviate traffic which, in turn, will reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

His boring machine is also in line with SpaceXs mission to eventually settle a colony on Mars. It could be used to test the viability of tunnel construction on the Red Planet, creating underground habitats that would protect people from extreme cold, low pressure, and high radiation.

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Elon Musk Has Released Photos of His Underground Tunnels - Futurism

You Have Been Hacked

On Saturday, the notoriousdark web had over 10,000 of its secret and shady websites seized by an Anonymous-linked hacker. The person claiming responsibility for this hack said it was a vigilante move that was accomplished by targeting a dark web hosting service called Freedom Hosting II.

Initially, I didnt want to take down FH2, just look through it, the hacker told Motherboard in an email sent from the same address posted to the hacked Freedom Hosting II sites. The hack was initiated after the hacker discovered that the service was hosting child pornography websites. Thats when I decided to take it down instead, they claimed.Each site hosted by the service had its content replaced by a message from the hacker.

The hack, supposedly, wasnt very complicated, and according the person responsible, this was their first attempt at hacking. This is, in fact, my first hack ever, the hacker said.I just had the right idea. All they needed was control over a new or already existing site. From there, it was just a matter of changing a configuration file, triggering a reset password, and getting root access. The hacker said that they were able to infiltrate the system with just read-only access as early as January 30.

The ominous-sounding moniker dark webis fairly fitting given the nature of many of the websites that comprise it. This space on the internet is home to some of the most nefariouswebsites there are, like the infamous Silk Road and other sites similar to it, some of which are marketplaces for child pornography, black market guns, illegal drugs, and even assassins-for-hire. Inaccessible using traditional browsers, those who want to explore the dark web mustuse special software to access it.

This hack takes out a full 20 percent of those sites, and by the looks of things, the hacker seems to be responsibly handling the files they seized. They released a dump of system files but without including user data, and they also plan to give copies to a security researcher. That person will be the one to deliver them to government officials.

The hacker considers this an achievement in the crusade against the internets scum. Asked ifthey would do it again in the future,the hacker replied,If there is ever going to be a chance like that again, I wont say no to taking them down, but I do not plan to do so.

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One Hacker Just Took Down a Fifth of the Dark Web - Futurism

The WrongDirection

Itstarted withremoving mentions of climate change on the WhiteHouse website, and now we are looking at an outright dissolution. Since Donald Trumps inauguration, the governments support of scientists and administrative organizations combating climate change (and protecting the environment) has dramatically decreased.

Case in point, on Friday February 3, Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz presented the billH.R.861, which would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Not wanting to beat around the bush, the bill is actually called the bill to terminate the Environmental Protection Agency a pretty straightforward name that shows how the winds are changing in Washington.

The EPA is the federal agency that monitors and implements policies that protectour environment. Gaetz and fellow Republican representatives (who co-sponsored H.R.861) do not feel that this agency is necessary.

Kentucky representative Thomas Massie stated that The EPA makes rules that undermine the voice of the American people and threaten jobs in Kentucky. The bills authors believe that removing the EPA would move oversight and regulation from the federal government to individual states, which they feel already have the resources necessary to protect our environment.

Experts disagree with this move. A lot of states just dont have resources available to them, said professor Mary Jane Angelo, director of the Environmental and Land Use Law Program at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Wealthier states would have better protection for their citizens health than poorer states.

But as the quote above makes clear, the thrust is really on placing jobs before the environment, so even if all states did have the necessary resources, it is clear that many states do not have the dedication or the will toprotect our environment.

However, EPA or No EPA, human-made climate change remains part of our daily reality, a reality which is progressively worsening.

Earths temperatures have been consistently warming. Despite political pushback from those who deny climate change, the actual effects of anthropogenic (manmade) climate change continue. From aberrant hurricanes and typhoons the world overto the extinction of several species, human-made climate change cannot be denied.

The details of H.R.861 remain unknown, as the text is still unavailable; however, the Walton Sunreports that the bill offers nothing new in the way of guidance, and according to Massie, 2018 will be the end of the EPA.

Hopefully, this will not happen, because if it is not yet obvious to some howthreatening human-made climate change is, it will become apparent all too soon.

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Republican Representatives Propose A Bill to Abolish The EPA - Futurism

Shooting Stars

If you havent noticed, the Super Bowl LI is trending on social media the Patriots won in overtime and Lady Gaga impressed during halftime. But the pop superstar wasnt the only one that lit up the night Intel literally did so with 300 drones thatmoved behind Lady Gaga as she sangon the stadiums roof.

The Intel Shooting Star drone is the companys first drone created for entertainment light shows, says Anil Nanduri, VP for Intels New Technology Group. Weve also worked with the FAA to receive a Part 107 Waiver to fly these drones as a fleet with one pilot at night in the U.S.

These Shooting Star dronesare actually quite simple. They use a desktop software suite of programs, allowing them to follow a pre-programmed route. The software also keeps the drones form colliding with one another, as they dont have hardware to detect collisions, nor do they communicate directly with each other.

Each of Intels drones can be assembled in less than 15 minutes.There are no screws and everything snaps together. They have a large, multicolored LED light on the bottom, are encased in a styrofoam housing, and weigh about the same as a volleyball. Currently, Intel uses these drones to conduct fantastic, well-coordinated light shows in the night sky. Intel says these are near-limitless in its scale they re able to control more than 10,000 drones at a time.

In the future, Intel hopes that this fleet drone technology will find other applications beyond that of entertainment. As Josh Walden, senior VP and GM at the New Technology Group said: The potential for these light show drones is endless, and we hope this experience inspires other creatives, artists and innovators to really think about how they can incorporate drone technology in new ways that have yet to even be thought of.

These drones, combined with Intels other proprietary technologies, could even be used in search and rescue operations, or for industrial inspection. Intels leaders are positioning the company to provide the compute, sensor, communications, and cloud integration for the growing drone ecosystem, the company notes.

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Lady Gaga's Backup Dancers Were Actually 300 Drones from Intel - Futurism

In Brief

Bill Nye, everyones favorite science guy, recently appeared on the youtube series Big Thinkto answer a very difficult question from a young engineering student: What technology can we expect to have 50 years from now? Thinking back 50 years from 2017, it would have been impossible to imagine in 1967 that we would soon have computers, cameras, calculators, and phones all in our pockets and that jetpacks and flying cars would be a reality. So this was a difficult question to answer.

Bill spoke at length about the crossroads we find ourselves approaching, and that what might have been easy to predict before is now much more challenging. However, he hopes that in 50 years, at least 80% of our energy will be made using renewable resources. He also thinks that almost all cars will be both autonomous self-driving vehicles and powered by electricity. And while he discussed the grim possibilities of our future, he recognized that the progressive influence of younger generations can give us hope.

Though rising automation makes some fear job loss, many believe that if a universal basic income is implemented alongside these growing developments in automation, companies and citizens alike would benefit.

According to Bill Nye, either, in the next decade orfifteen years, the US becomes the world leader in renewable technologies or the US just continues to divide the rich and the poor and global climate change gets stronger and stronger and the ocean gets bigger and bigger as it gets warmer and the quality of life for a lot of people goes down. Well see.

Bills a cheerful guy, as you can see; either way, heemphasized, I want you to change the world!

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Bill Nye: This is The Technology We Can Expect to Have 50 Years From Now - Futurism

In Brief

Last year, Elon Musk released the second half of his Master Plan, which was strongly anchored in creating a more sustainable future for our planet. It included plans to create a solar roof with seamlessly integrated battery storage, improve driverless vehicles, and expand its electric-powered product line. Included in the last piece of the plan is the development of electric semi-trucks.

Today, Musk has assured the public via Twitter that Teslas semis are well on their way.

However, as the Tesla Semi becomes a reality, the Model 3, a new Tesla car design slated for a 2017 release with over 400,000 reservations behind it, remains Teslas priority. Nevertheless, despite the companys current main focus, the Tesla Semi is apparently already in early development work, reports Electrek.

One of the biggest challenges that Tesla might face in bringing these large, battery-powered trucks might be their size. So far, we have seen Teslas current technology work exceptionally well for compact cars and sedans. But modifying this technology for heavy trucks designed to carry cargo and drive long-distance means that Tesla will most likely have to significantly adjust charging mechanisms, drastically increase the energy-capacity of its batteries, and work to make the vehicle lighter overall. But, since Tesla is one of the most forward-thinking and innovative companies of our time, its probably only a matter of time before we see the inventive new ways that they will address these challenges.

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Elon Musk: Electric Semi Trucks Are On Their Way - Futurism

In Brief

China has proven that it is, in fact, very serious about its intentions to lessen dependence on coal. According to Chinas National Energy Administration (NEA), the country has more than doubled its solar energy production in 2016making them the biggest producer of solar energy (in terms of capacity) in the world

By the end of last year, China hit 77.42 gigawatts, which generated 66.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power. While significant, the figure is relatively small given Chinas massive population. And being the worlds biggest industrial nation, this only accounted for one percent of the countrys total power generation. However, given that China is looking to significantly boost its use of renewable power, that number will hopefully increase in the years to come.

Following NEAs development plan and energy goals, the country is working towards adding over 110 gigawatts of capacity by 2020. With continued focus and effort, they hope to increase their use of renewable power from 11 percent to 20 percent by 2030.

Transitioning to renewable energy will require a significant investment from China, but its an investment that China is clearly ready to make. In fact, the country has already allotted $364 billion (2.5 trillion yuan) towards this vision. Since China is such a large producer with such a massive population, this large step towards sustainability will have a tremendous impact. With the ever-progressing repercussions of climate change upon us, efforts like this are what make a green future possible.

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China is Now the Biggest Producer of Solar Energy in the World - Futurism

Ya Dig?

When Elon Musk said he will bore through traffic, he meant it. The Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO is serious about digging a tunnel into and through Los Angeles, and he has completed a boring test drive, so to speak, at the SpaceX headquarters in LA. Workers dug a test trench 30 feet wide, 50 feet long, and 15 feet deep this past weekend, which Musk called the beginning of an experiment.

Musks boring project began with a couple of tweets complaining about traffic in L.A. Now, it looks like the project is as concretely real as Tesla cars or SpaceX rockets, with work expected to begin sometime next month. His vision: to make human beings an inter-tunnel species.

You have tall buildings, theyre all 3D, and then everyone wants to go into the building and leave the building at a same time, he said Sunday, speaking at a Hyperloop design competition at SpaceX.. On a 2D road network, that obviously doesnt work, so you have to go 3D either up or down. And I think probably down.

With the progression of Musks plans come improvements of tunnel-building technology. Were just going to figure out what it takes to improve tunneling speed by, I think, somewhere between 500 and 1,000 percent, he said Sunday.We have no idea what were doingI want to be clear about that. Just as Musk improved electric cars and reusable rockets, he wants to improve the way that we build tunnels. Speaking to Wired, Musk said, better tunneling tech improves everything: road, subway, Hyperloop.

Since Los Angeles is the most congested city in the U.S., surely they might appreciate, or at least be open to, Musks solution. Of course, however, there will be many legal, logistical, and even environmental hurdles to overcome before the digging will begin underneath L.A.

The obstacles between this idea and the reality of a tunnel system in L.A. cant be helped. However, Roads are basically the only infrastructure we have that we experience daily shortages of, according to urban planning student Michael Manville at the University of California, Los Angeles. And so, while there will be a lot of work to set this plan in motion, it could revolutionizetransportation.

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Elon Musk Has Officially Started Building A Tunnel Under Los Angeles - Futurism

I've never thought of my allergies as a big deal. Sure, my peanut allergy has caused an emergency room visit here and there, and my dad used to pick me up from sleepovers because of my emphysema-like wheezing around cats. No big thing, right? But a few years back it seemed about time I went to see an allergy specialist and get a comprehensive list of the things my body hates.

I found myself shirtless, laying on my stomach in the doctor's exam room with twenty pricks in my back (which isn't nearly as scandalous as it sounds). A constant tingle ran through my body, but all I could think about was how comically small the exam room table appeared under my enormous body. I am most certainly not allergic to pizza and beer.

To administer an allergy test a nurse needs to prick your back with an assortment of allergens. Different types of trees, animal dander, molds and grasses were all made to come into contact with my delicate, nature-hating skin. After the pricks, it's a waiting game to see if your torso turns into a red, puffy Braille haiku.

About twenty minutes later the nurse knocked on the door. I couldn't see the expression on her face, given my vulnerable position facing the corner like the bad kid being punished. But her inflection said it all.

"Oh myyy!" the nurse said in that heavy Minnesota accent most Minnesotans don't think they have. "Well," she said with a pause, "you're allergic to everything!"

"Everything?" I ask, worried less about the consequences of allergies and more about the cocky "told you so" attitude my girlfriend at the time was sure to have upon hearing the news.

"Well, maybe not the... yes, yes, you're allergic to grass too."

I kind of guessed that one. My parents love to tell the story of when I was a kid and had just started to crawl. My dad spent a summer building a deck behind our house and he was able to leave me relatively unsupervised, as long as I was surrounded by grass. Sitting on a pastel pink blanket, I was content as all get-out not to traverse that sea of green, spiky irritants laid out before me. I've always been confused when someone appears pleasant while barefoot. I guess that's why I sometimes empathize with the wide-eyed technological visions of the 1950s. Their promise was one of control, of harnessing nature rather than being one with it. Domed cities, meal pills --science will have the answers.

And science did have the answers in the 1982 kids bookWorld of Tomorrow: Health and Medicine by Neil Ardley. Ardley's book is filled with predictions about the future of health care, with an emphasis on self-assessement via computer. If WebMD and the rise of home genetic testing kits count, I'd say that this was a pretty accurate vision of the future.

Well, at least it was more accurate than the people who imagined hospitals in space.

By checking the genetic codes of parents and by caring for unborn babies, the children of tomorrow should be born in perfect health. A long life is lkely to lie ahead of them. But to remain healthy, everyone will have to look after themselves. As now, this will mean taking exercise, keeping clean and behaving sensibly to avoid danger. However, the world of tomorrow will bring other ways in which you can help to prevent yourself from getting ill.

Many people fall ill because they have an allergy. Something they eat or drink disagrees with them, or perhaps something in the air upsets them. Tiny particles of pollen blown by the wind give some people hay fever, for example. Others cannot eat food made from flour or shellfish without feeling ill. Often these people suffer for years before they find out what is wrong.

In the future you will be able to go to the doctor or a health complex to prepare yourself for a healthy life. Machines will take samples such as blood, saliva, hair and body wastes. They will measure them to find out exactly how your body reacts to food and drink and to substances in air and water. Then a computer will take the measurements and work out which things are likely to cause problems for you. It will produce a personal list of things to do and to avoid if you want to stay healthy and feel alert and full of energy. It is certain, for example to insist that you should never smoke. It may even recommend certain rules for making the best of your memory and intelligence. Following a list of rules might seem to make life a lot less fun. However, it would probably be no more trouble than taking care when crossing the road, for example.

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Paleofuture - Paleofuture Blog

Humans dreams bigand, better yet, we make those dreams a reality. It's enabled us to tame nature, build new nations, defeat disease, defy gravity and even reach the Moon. And we're not done yetnot by a long shot. From the quantum internet to terraforming Mars, here are some of mankind's most ambitious future moonshots.

Visionary, polymath, scientist, artist, engineerLeonardo da Vinci was the quintessential "Renaissance Man." Whether it was flying machines, diving suits, automatons or advanced weaponry, da Vinci envisioned the future and set about designing it. Here's a look at Leonardo da Vinci's most futuristic contraptions.

There's a new aerospace technology on the horizonusing plasma, the superheated "fourth state of matter," to enhance the aerodynamic performance of aircraft. Here, we break down the mechanics and the uses of this exciting new technology that has the aeronautics and aerospace industries all abuzz.

On September 27, Elon Musk unveiled his most ambitious project yetcalled the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), it's nothing less than his long-awaited plan for, not only putting humans on Mars, but colonizing the Red Planet as well. In this handy infographic, we've distilled the ITS architecture into seven easy steps.

In 1968, "father of computer graphics" Ivan E. Sutherland built the world's first head-mounted virtual reality displaycomplete with real time head tracking. Here's how he did it.

The face of warfare is rapidly changing. Numerous advances in recent decades have made possible military technology that was formerly the stuff of science fiction. Hypersonic missiles, next-gen choppers, carrier-based drones, electromagnetic railguns, and even laser weapons. This isn't Star Wars, folksit's the future of the US military.

By 2050, the world's population will swell to 10 billion people, and nearly 2/3 of them will be living in cities. To feed everyone, we're going to have to drastically modify global farming practices. The solution? Vertical farming.

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Infographics - Futurism

Futurism was an early 20th-century art movement which encompassed painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, music, architecture and gastronomy. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti initiated the movement with his Manifesto of Futurism, published in February 1909. Futurist music rejected tradition and introduced experimental sounds inspired by machinery, and influenced several 20th-century composers.

The musician Francesco Balilla Pratella joined the movement in 1910 and wrote the Manifesto of Futurist Musicians (1910), the Technical Manifesto of Futurist Music (1911) and The Destruction of Quadrature (Distruzione della quadratura), (1912). In The Manifesto of Futurist Musicians, Pratella appealed to the young, as had Marinetti, because only they could understand what he had to say. He boasted of the prize that he had won for his musical Futurist work, La Sina dVargun, and the success of its first performance at the Teatro Communale at Bologna in December 1909, which placed him in a position to judge the musical scene. According to Pratella, Italian music was inferior to music abroad. He praised the "sublime genius" of Wagner and saw some value in the work of Richard Strauss, Debussy, Elgar, Mussorgsky, Glazunov and Sibelius. By contrast, the Italian symphony was dominated by opera in an "absurd and anti-musical form". The conservatories encouraged backwardness and mediocrity. The publishers perpetuated mediocrity and the domination of music by the "rickety and vulgar" operas of Puccini and Umberto Giordano. The only Italian Pratella could praise was his teacher Pietro Mascagni, because he had rebelled against the publishers and attempted innovation in opera, but even Mascagni was too traditional for Pratella's tastes.

In the face of this mediocrity and conservatism, Pratella unfurled "the red flag of Futurism, calling to its flaming symbol such young composers as have hearts to love and fight, minds to conceive, and brows free of cowardice".

His musical programme was:

Luigi Russolo (18851947) was an Italian painter and self-taught musician. In 1913 he wrote The Art of Noises,[1][2] which is considered[citation needed] to be one of the most important and influential texts in 20th-century musical aesthetics. Russolo and his brother Antonio used instruments they called "intonarumori", which were acoustic noise generators that permitted the performer to create and control the dynamics and pitch of several different types of noises. The Art of Noises classified "noise-sound" into six groups:

Russolo and Marinetti gave the first concert of Futurist music, complete with intonarumori, in April 1914 (causing a riot).[3] The program comprised four "networks of noises" with the following titles:

Further concerts around Europe were cancelled due to the outbreak of the First World War.

Futurism was one of several 20th century movements in art music that paid homage to, included or imitated machines. Ferruccio Busoni has been seen as anticipating some Futurist ideas, though he remained wedded to tradition.[4] Russolo's intonarumori influenced Stravinsky, Honegger, Antheil, and Edgar Varse.[5] In Pacific 231, Honegger imitated the sound of a steam locomotive. There are also Futurist elements in Prokofiev's The Steel Step.

Most notable in this respect, however, is George Antheil. Embraced by Dadaists, Futurists and modernists, Antheil expressed in music the artistic radicalism of the 1920s. His fascination with machinery is evident in his Airplane Sonata, Death of the Machines, and the 30-minute Ballet mcanique. The Ballet mcanique was originally intended to accompany an experimental film by Fernand Lger, but the musical score is twice the length of the film and now stands alone. The score calls for a percussion ensemble consisting of three xylophones, four bass drums, a tam-tam, three airplane propellers, seven electric bells, a siren, two "live pianists", and sixteen synchronized player pianos. Antheil's piece was the first to synchronize machines with human players and to exploit the difference between what machines and humans can play.

Russian Futurist composers included Arthur-Vincent Louri, Mikhail Gnesin, Alexander Goedicke, Geog Kirkor (19101980), Julian Krein (19131996), and Alexander Mosolov.

A collection of Futurist music and spoken word from the period 1909-1935 has been recorded on a CD, Musica Futurista: The Art of Noises, issued in 2004. As well as period recordings, including free-verse readings by Marinetti and Russolo's intonarumori, the CD includes contemporary performances by Daniele Lombardi of other key Futurist piano works. The material has been digitally remastered and includes a booklet with rare images and sleeve notes by Lombardi and James Hayward.

The tracks are:

Numerous recordings of Italian and Russian Futurist music have been made by Daniele Lombardi, notably the albums Futurlieder (works by Franco Casavola) and 'Futurpiano (works by George Antheil, Leo Ornstein and Arthur-Vincent Louri).

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Futurism (music) - Wikipedia

Futurism was an art movement launched by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909. On 20 February he published his Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro. That moment saw the birth of the Futurists, a small group of radical Italian artists working just before the outbreak of theFirst World War.

Among modernist movements, the Futurists rejected anything old and looked towards a new Italy. This was partly because the weight of past culture in Italy was felt as particularly oppressive. In his Manifesto, Marinetti asserted 'we will free Italy from her innumerable museums which cover her like countless cemeteries.'

Luigi Russolo The Revolt 1911 abstracted figures pulling chevron shapes with grid-like patterns behind

What the Futurists proposed instead was an art that celebrated the modern world of industry and technology: 'We declare a new beauty, the beauty of speed. A racing motor car is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace' (the celebrated ancient Greek sculpture in the Louvre museum in Paris). From an original blend of elements of Neo-Impressionism and Cubism, the Futurists created a new style that expressed the idea of the dynamism, energy and movement of modern life. The chief artists were Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carr, Gino Severini and Luigi Russolo.

Tate Modern celebrates the centenary of this dramatic art movement with a ground-breaking exhibition. Here you'll see the work of the Futurists accompanied by rooms looking at art movements reacting to Futurism, including Cubism, the British art movement Vorticism, and Russian Cubo-Futurism.

Highlights include Boccioni's dynamic bronze sculpture of a man which seems to leap through thin air, Picasso's Head of a Woman, Nevinson's Vorticist masterpiece Bursting Shell, and works by major artists such as Braque, Leger, Malevich, and Duchamp.

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Futurism | Tate

An Italian poet named Emilio Filippo Tommaso (1876-1944) established Futurism in 1908. He envisioned a new society that would make a complete rupture with the present and the past even as the world underwent rapid changes in the new century. Tomasso imagined a perfect world, a utopia that included new art and literary forms. In essence, the new society would replace past social norms and offer something better for art and poetry. In his Futurist Manifesto in 1909, Tommaso elaborated more on the Futurist vision, including the Four Post-Modernizations.

Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) created and embodied the Futurism painting form with his paintings The City Rises (1910) and States of Mind (1911-1912). The latter features red, blue, and white as the dominant colors and includes humans in motion and futuristic buildings under construction at the top of the canvas. The elements of Futurism are embedded in the complex composition. Many colors break up and come together to portray a man shown from behind. He looks like can pull the observer into the future. Boccioni also sculpted a bronze cast in 1913 called Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, which now resides in the Museum of Modern Art. This human figure also embodies motion, a central concept of Futurism.

The Dada artist and writer, Marcel Duchamp, was the brilliant organizer of the Dadaists and the author of the Dada Manifesto. He had a brilliant older brother whose sculptures exhibit the impact of Futurism. Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876-1918) created the magnificent bronze sculpture which was both mechanical and unique. He chose the simple name The Horse (1914), understating the complexity of this three-dimensional form as a complex representation of how humanity is propelling itself into an uncertain future.

It is hard to believe sometimes that the Dadaists and the Futurists, including the Duchamp brothers were creating such revolutionary work only a couple years after Braque and Picasso introduced Cubism to the Paris art world in the midst of the First World War. Joseph Stella also reverberated the Futurist sense of rhythm and motion in his painting, Battle of Lights, Coney Island painting (1914). Some historians even argue that Futurism even impacted Picassos Synthetic Cubism.

Architecture gave a vision to the idea of a futuristic city. Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright built models of their visions for a futuristic metropolis. However, these elaborate plans were never built. Wrights plan is reminiscent of the city of the future one sees when riding the Mass Transit Authority through Walt Disney Worlds Space Mountain.

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Futurism | Arthistory.net